• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 1994

The induced antibiotic peptides were isolatde from the white-spotted folwer chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis by injection of E. coli suspension to the larvae of the insect. The antibacterial activity of the peptides were assayed by the plate growth ingibition method, and were purified by ion-exchange chromatography, reversed-phase HPLC, ion-exchange HPLC and SDS-PAGE etc. The peptides were estimated as 9 kDa in molecular weight and named Protaecin I and Protaecin II, respectively. Protaecin I and II have strong antibacterial activities against Gram-positivie and/or Gram-negative bacteria, and they are stable in the heat treatment and in the range of pH 2-12.